Improvement in machines for picking and cleaning cotton and wool



UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE..I

STEPHEN-R. PARKHURST, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO EMILY R. PARKHURST, OF THE SAME PLACE. l

I IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR PICKING AND CLEANING COTTON AND WOOL.

Specilication forming part ofLctters Patent No. 56,675, dated July 24, 1866.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Beitknown that I, STEPHENR. PAEKHURST, of Bloomeld,in the countyot' Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Improvenient in Cotton and Wool Picking Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to he a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure l is a Vertical section of my woolpicking machine. Fig. 2 is a plan ot' the oiling and condensing apparatus. Fig. 3 is a plan of one of the bars ofthe picker-cylinder. Fig. 4 is a section and partial elevation of one of the feeding-rollers.

In the first picking of wool it is usual tov throw o" the wool into a room by a brush-blower, while the burrs and foreign substances are receivedinto a box. After this the wool is taken to the Iirst breaker and there weighed out upon the feeding-apron, thus requiring an attendant and involving also loss of time in gathering up wool from the picker.

The nature ot' my said invention consists in a picker for wool and other berpeculiarly constructed and arranged so as to loosen and open the ber and remove foreign substances, and in combination therewith I employ a condensing apparatus that receives the wool or other ber from the picker and discharges it in the form of a sliver or roving into a can, or it may be wound upon a spool or roller and at the same time oiled, so that the subsequent handling operations and weighing are rendered unnecessary, said sliver being fed directly into the carding-machines. This condensing apparatus consists of a pair of perforated rollers or drums that are revolved by competent mechanism, and receive upon their surface the said ber as thrown ott' from the picker.

In the drawings, a is the feeding belt, of usual character. b and c are feed-rollers. These are made of a series of teeth cut out of sheet metal, such as steel. The rollers themselves are composed of met-al with aseries of grooves turned in their surface of a width to receive the bases of the sheet-metal teeth, and these teeth are held in place by upsetting the metal of the ribs on the surface of said rollers, so as to clinch over and hold in the bases of the sheet-metal teeth, as seen in Figs. l and 4.

The picker-cylinder d is made of a series of grooved bars, l l. set on heads, said grooved bars 1 l being undercut or dovetailed to receive the dovetail bases of a series of teeth, 2 2, kept apart by blanks or filling-pieces also set in the dovetail grooves, and each range of teeth is held in its bar by a screw or pin at the end. This picking-cylinder d pulls out gently, loosens, and opens the locks of wool as they pass through and are detained by the teeth of the feeding-rollers b and c, and the pickingcylinder d may be formed with slats or inclosing screen-wires between the bars l l to let a current of air pass through, but not to let the ber pass in, the air and centrifugal motion tending to lift the ber oft the teeth 2. Below this picker-cylinder dis ay screen, e, that prevents locks of wool that may be carried around with the teeth falling away, and a screen, e, is introduced between the cylinder d and a suction air-trunk,m, so that dust will be drawn away from the space in which the cylinder d revolves.

The ber is brought up to a pair of steelrin g cylinders, fand g. The second onef, should be closer to the teeth 2 2 than the cylinder g, so that the locks of wool are opened, split, and separated by the cylinders j' and g and removed from the teeth 2, the operation being so gentle (at the same time rapid) that the wool or ber is thoroughly and quickly opened, but not injured; and to prevent injuryT to the wool I smooth the teeth 2, and also the teeth of the feed-rollers b c, previous to the introduc tion of said teeth. This can be easily accomplished by any suitable means, the teeth being separate. I

The burrs are knocked ell by the strippers h and i, those from 7L passing into the receptacle 7c, while those from z fall upon the cylinder d, and are thrown oit' through the grating e into a receptacle below.

The fiber is taken off the cylinders f and g by the brush-blower l and thrown upon the con(lensing-cylinders m', a guard, 4, being introduced to prevent the fiber from the cyliir der g coming in contact with the stripper i.

The cylinders m are upon vertical shafts a, and driven by the Worm p and pinious q, and the fiber as thrown off by the blower Z is deposited upon the perforated surfaces of these cylinders m and delivered from between them in the form of a sliver or bat, andthe air blowing through the wool or other ber again conveys away any dust.

I make use of the delivery-rollers r, driven by suitable gearing s, to compress the fiber into a sliver or bat as it passes from the cylinders m, and to these rollers r, I apply oilers t t, formed as cans, that set against the sides of the rollers, and are sustained upon bars u fu, and may be raised or lowered thereon to the desired height. The surfaces of the loilers t t next the rollers r are perforated with any desired number of holes, so that a constant supply of oil is applied to the surfaces of said rollers, and they cil the fiber passing between them.

The gradual opening of the wool is effected without cutting or injuring the ber, and the dust and dirt are taken away through the trunk m as soon as liberated, thereby preventing such foreign substances injuring the ber or the machinery in the subsequent operations, and the air drawing inward keeps the bearings and ends of the cylinders free from dirt and fiber (which sometimes cause friction and ignition) and the dust is not blown around the picker-room, as has been usual.

The air that passes of through the grating and trunk m by the exhaust-blower travels in the same direction as the pickercylinder d; hence all dust and foreign substances are thrown off with the air, and the picker kept much more free from dust and dirt than is the case in those machines where the blast of air is drawn away in the opposite direction to the motion of the picker-cylinder and fiber, because said blast has to overcome the momentum of the foreign substances, while in my present invention the exhaust-blast only accelerates the momentum and centrifugal action, and the particles of foreign matter knocked from the fiber by the strippers h and i fall into the same current of air and are conveyed away from the machine.

This improvement leaves the ber in better condition than heretofore, discharges the wool or other material in a compact form, easily handled, and in one operation effects what has usually required two or three operations attended with considerable loss of wool from the fibers being cut and broken in the picking.

The various cylinders and rollers are to be driven in the direction indicated by the arrows and at the proper speed.

I have not represented all thepnlleys, gears, or wheels employed for rotating said parts, as they may be of any desired character, and the frame, movable and fixed casings, and supports or boxes for the shafts may be constructed as required.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Constructing the toothed rollers b and c with separate teeth set into grooves and secured as described.

2. The picker-cylinder formed of a series of longitudinally-grooved bars containing separate teeth and il'itermediate'iilling-pieces, substantially as specified.

8. The cylinders cl, f, and g, in combination with the strippers L and i, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. The brush-blower Z and condensing-cylinders m', in combination with the picker-cylinder d and cylinder f or g, substantially as set forth.

5. The rollers r r, in combination with the con(lensing-cylinders m m and Oilers t t, substantially as set forth.

6. In a picker for wool and other ber, arranging the stripper and toothed cylinder over the picker-cylinder. so that dust and foreign substances shall fall into the space in which the picker-cylinder revolves, and be thrown out by the centrifugal action of said cylinder, aided by a current of air, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 6th day of March, 1866.

S. R. PARKHURST.

Witnesses:

GHAs. H. SMITH, GEO. D. WALKER. 

